Journey to Becoming the Champion
by Kaimaxe
Summary: This is the adventure of a newly found friendship between four very different teens. On this journey there will be ups and downs, hardships, smiles, tears and fond memories. And a little romance here and there. *Picture credits go to the creator(s) of Pochi and Pokemon. We only own our Characters and original ideas for the story.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey everyone! We're back! But this time we are writing a Pokemon fan fiction._

 _This story will be told through the eyes of two people, Lily and Zuri._

 _Lily is my sister's character, Zuri is mine._

 _The title is in the works, this is what we thought of for now. So don't be confused if the title changes._

 _Hope you enjoy!_

My eyes drift open as I wake, the sun streaming through the window shines right into my eyes, I squint as I sit up welcoming the cool shade the rest of the bed provides. I set my bed here for that exact purpose, I'm not a heavy sleeper so the light wakes me every morning. I look over at the clock hanging on the wall to find I've slept past eight, which is weird for me.

I swing my legs over the bed, my bright red hair falling over my face, so I brush it away. I haven't had a haircut in months so its wild in the mornings and always finds its way into my face despite my best efforts. The first thing I do every morning is brush my hair, otherwise it's in my face until I do. As a comb the bright red locks I take a second to pull back my blankets to reveal a Leafeon, but she's no ordinary Leafeon, she's what people have labeled a shiny. Which is a pokemon with odd colouring, Leafeon in this case is a much brighter color than other Leafeon.

"Come on Ester, we slept in." I shout and shake her awake. She pulls herself upright and stares at me with intense, big, round brown eyes. She belongs to my mother, who named her Ester, she was a gift from my father who's a pokemon breeder. He bred her from his Jolteon and Glaceon before I was even a thought. By the time it hatched I was a baby and we've grown up together.

I live with my mother and father, I'm their only child, on a large pokemon sanctuary and daycare called Wildwood. The largest in all of the Kanto region. I help out every day, feeding, playing, and sometimes training the pokemon. When I turned ten I was ecstatic about getting my first pokemon, and I almost did, if my mother and father hadn't come to me, sat me down and explained that they didn't have enough money to hire a farm hand. If I had left we would have lost the daycare and in turn the sanctuary.

As I finish my routine I head down the stairs, dressed and ready for the day. The kitchen is at the bottom of the stairs, through an arch, and is old fashioned with a large stove, big enough to cook a large pizza in it, and an island that we eat at every day. My mother stands at the stove and pulls out eggs, she flips them and sticks them back before turning to me.

She's a beautiful woman, with the same fire red hair as me only it's longer and wavy, her eyes are bright green just like mine. She's tall and slim like a supermodel.

"Good morning hunny, egg-" She stops mid sentence. "What are you wearing?"

I look down at my outfit, it's a blue t-shirt stained with mud, and blue jeans ripped and worn. "My work clothing. I wear this every day."

"No, go upstairs and put on the clothing I packed in the bag by your door." She tells me and turns back to the stove. I turn around, confused and head back up the stairs. What book bag? I didn't see any book bag. I reach the top of the stairs and head around the corner to my bedroom, I sigh as I spot the bag by the door. Its the nice backpack I saw in a store window last time me and my mother went to Cerulean city to drop off a pokemon to its trainer before they battled the gym leader. It was black, except for a bright green pokeball design on the front.

How was she expecting me to know it was there if it wasn't even in my room? I pick it up and head into my room. I was running behind as it was, how could she let me sleep in like this. I hope my father won't be mad at me, I was supposed to feed all the pokemon and take a few back to their trainers who are staying in town. I throw the bag onto the bed, undo the clip and flip open the top. It's really a nice bag, it has four pockets, two on the sides, one on the front and a large main one. In the main part my mother had neatly packed the clothing and a large smile spread across my face, all the clothing I had picked out in Cerulean was here. A bright green muscle shirt with the design of a vine with a large pink flower at the center, a black jacket that cuts off just above the bottom ribs, and blue capris. I quickly change and stand in front of the mirror.

I'm tall, but not like my mother, I have muscles from long hard work and I'm not as thin as her, my breasts aren't small but they're not big either. My face is long and thin, my nose is round and my lips are small. So I wasn't anything special to look at, but I liked to think I'm at least a choice someone will make one day. So, over all I guess I'm mediocre looking. The only thing I consider special about me is my hair, it's a vivid fire red and hangs down to my upper back, with one hair at front that stands on end all the time, compared to my mother's though it's not at all as beautiful. Hers' hangs down past her butt pulled up into a ponytail, it's like a blazing flame when it swings back and forth, every eye in the room is drawn to it when she moves. She's the most beautiful woman I've ever laid my eyes on.

"Lily! Come on! You're going to be late!" My mother calls up the stairs. Late? Late for what? I pull open my door and head for the stairs, the bag thumping against my back with every step I take. Then it occurs to me, where did she get the money to buy all this?

"Late for what? And I have another question I want to ask you." I call back, she's waiting at the bottom of the stairs, a smile plastered on her beautiful round face making her eyes shine brighter than I've ever seen them.

"You look wonderful! So it all fits?" She asks, ignoring my question. "Come on, your father just finished up the chores and we both want to talk to you."

My heart beats hard against my chest, last time they both wanted to talk it was to tell me I couldn't become a pokemon trainer.

"Are you going to answer my question?" I ask, she looks at me and the light in her eyes flares brighter.

"Yes my love, just come sit down and eat." She tells me, patting my head and walks through the arch into the kitchen. I follow, my father is sitting at the island stuffing his face with eggs, he has jet black short hair and deep blue eyes that remind me of the ocean. He's strong with lots of muscles and wears rattie stained work clothing, he smells like fertilizer. When I walk in he stops stuffing his face for a moment, he turns and flashes me a big smile. I can see why my mother picked him, his face is soft and worn from a long life, by he has laugh lines from years of happiness and his hard work.

"There's my little Lil." He smiles and like always warmth washes over me. I take my set beside him and mother places a plate of eggs in front of me before she takes her place.

We dig in and finish before both my parents look at me.

"Alright, time to talk." My mother smiles happily, and elbows my father in the ribs.

"Ow! Alright, alright, Lil, we have good news." He smiles at me, I always like when he gives me smiles like that. "We've been getting lots of customers and saved up enough money to send you on a journey"

My heart leaps into my throat and I feel my jaw drop. My brain is a sudden mess, are they for real? Both my parents begin to laugh and a smile spreads across my face.

"Really?!" I ask quickly. They nod, standing up, I jump for joy.

"Feon! Le-Le!" Ester bounds over to me and I drop to my knees so I could wrap my arms around her.

"I'm going on my own journey Ester! I'm going to be a pokemon trainer! I've dreamed of this my whole life! I'm going to be just like Vivian!" I stop and look at the Ester in my arms. Her gentle brown eyes stare back at me. "I'm going to miss you, Ester"

"Why would you miss her?" My mother asks, I look up at her.

"Well, cause I'm leaving." I reply, she smiles softly.

"But she's going with you, how could I separate my children after all these years." She tells me, a sad smile on her face but the brightness in her eyes shining stronger than ever. "I want to see both of you evolve and change for the better. Keeping you locked away here in Pallet would be a travesty."

My heart erupts with love and joy all at once, I quickly run to my mother, she wraps her arms around me. I giggle with as my father wraps his strong arms around both of us and I feel Iike I could stay here in their arms forever, but sadly they both pulled away and smile.

"You have to go now, Professer Oak will be waiting for you. I think there are actually three other children getting starters today too." She smiles at me but I can't help but find the sadness in her eyes discomforting and all my fears come rushing into my head. What if something happens to me on the road? Or what if they need me but can't get in contact with me? What would happen then…

"Hey…" I mumble, then my father reaches over and places his hand on my head.

"Little Lil, you don't worry one bit about us. Your father won't let anything happen to mom or the house, or the pokemon in our care. We rented out the upstairs of the barn and the person's going to work for us too as a form of payment." He smiles and the fears are banished under the light beaming from his happy face. I can't help but laugh and then we're all laughing together.

"Thanks Daddy" I whisper and give him his own personal hug. What did I do to deserve such a great father?

"Alright Lil, get going. Ester, take care of my Little Lil and Lil take care of Ester." He reaches down and rubs behind Ester's ear.

"Fe~" She presses her head into his hand gently, my mother hands me Esters pokeball and we rush out the door, excitement building I forget my bike and run headlong down the street. Ester has no problem keeping up with me as we, together, don't stop until Pallet is in view and our breaths come in hard sharp gasps. We slow to a walk and my head buzzes with adrenaline and my heart beats a thousand times a minute.

When the Professor's lab comes into view I stop and look up at the the building sitting on top of the hill. I think for a moment about the starters he would gift the children of Pallet town. Charmander the lizard pokemon, a fire type, Squirtle the tiny turtle pokemon, a water type, finally Bulbasaur the seed pokemon, a grass type. It was an easy choice for me, I would pick Bulbasaur every time.

I raise my foot to take a step but I can't bring myself to move forward and I lower my foot back to the ground. Fear grips my stomach so hard it feels like I might blow chunks all over the driveway. What if something happens to me while I'm all the way on the other side of Kanto? What if I disappear and leave my mother and father to worry about me for the rest of their lives? I'm their only living child, I'm supposed to take over the family business and care for the pokemon on the reserve. Who will take over the business than? What if they just shut it down and-

The last thought is cut off as I feel Ester rub against my leg.

"Le, Le, Leafeon." She calls up to me, quelling my fears. _We are in this together, I will protect you forever._ I could almost hear her voice in my head. I kneel down and wrap my arms around her neck. "Fe~"

I stand back up and head up the driveway, the confidence returning to my steps and before I know it we're standing at the large wooden door. I raise my hand but stop with my finger above the doorbell, my stomach twistes with fear. Then Ester rubs against me again and I take a deep breath before pressing the bell once. I cross my arms over my twisting stomach and a moment later the door swings open and Professor Oak smiles at me.

"Lily, I'm very glad you could make it." The Professor greets me kindly. My mother is a very close friend to the Professor, as she was a Professor in her youth before she settled down with my father and had me. So I've known him my whole life, he would often invite my mother to his lab and let me play with the pokemon. He steps aside as I walk in and I hear laughing as we walk towards the lab.

"Professor, who else is here? I don't recall any children in the village being old enough to receive any starter Pokemon."

"I invited three other youth in the same age group as you. They were looking into the starter pokemon from this region and I offered one to each of them." He chuckles.

"Will there be enough pokemon?" I ask quickly.

"Yes, of course. Your parents have made sure of that."

"The starters came from Wildwood?"

"Yeah, your father is an amazing breeder and really came through for me." He tells me with a smile as we approach the door to the lab and he opens it.

We walk in, he has a table setup with four pokeballs. Two young men stand at the table talking and laughing, one is a tall boy with auburn hair and brown eyes, he wears a red shirt under a red sweater with black arms and black pants with a red belt, his shoes are also red. I think it's safe to say his favorite color is red. The other is a very tall, handsome boy with thick jet black hair hidden under a green and white baseball cap he wears backwards. His eyes are the most beautiful emerald green. He wears a red and white jacket over a plain black shirt, his shorts are plain blue jeans and his shoes match his jacket.

My eyes are drawn to the pokemon standing at their feet, the young man with the auburn hair has an Umbreon sitting beside him. It's beautiful and majestic, she looks over at us then looks up at her trainer, then looks away calmly. The young man with black hair has a Vaporeon sitting beside him, he looks at us then stands up and walks over to Leafeon. They stand looking at eachother for a moment before touching noses and they both returned to their trainers side.

*Ding Dong. Ding Dong. Ding dong*

Professor Oak rushes away leaving us alone, the boys look at each other and then at me again. The young man with the black hair looks down at Ester and smiles.

"Can I pet your Leafeon?" He asked.

"Sure, her name is Ester." I tell him and he bends down to rub her ears, then he runs his hand down her back and legs. He looks her in the eyes and smiles.

"She's beautiful, lean with plenty of muscle, I would says she's very well bred and trained. You're a very lucky trainer, she's also a shiny, right?" He asks. I nod and feel my face grow hot, he's very beautiful himself. "My name is Ryan, I always love to meet other Eeveelutions."

"I'm Lily, you and Vaporeon are also very beautiful." My eyes grow wide as I realize what I said, I was so distracted by his beautiful emerald eyes that I wasn't thinking about what I was about saying. He looks a little surprised, then he begins to blush.

"Hahahaha." The other boy laughs and I'm so happy to hear the door open. I turn towards the Professor and see instead a pretty girl rushing towards me. She throws her arms around me and pulls away just as quickly. She's very pretty, with long black hair that reaches her hips and bright yellow eyes that are filled with excitement and happiness.

She is wearing a yellow, sleeveless crop top, over top is a short sleeved red sweater with a black lapel and hem that ends in the same place as her shirt, leaving her stomach exposed. She has black cargo shorts with a yellow belt that has suspenders attached to it. On her feet she wears red knee socks and black boots with yellow laces. Around her shoulder she has a red shoulder bag with a yellow pokeball design. She moves away from me just as quickly and towards the table.

"Are these the pokemon! I pick Charmander! I've always wanted a Charmander, that's why I didn't start in the Johto region." She spoke so fast I almost couldn't understand her.

"You're from the Johto region, that's awesome." The auburn haired boy says. "We're from the Unova region, we actually took part in the league there last year."

"Really, I've spent a lot of time there with my grandmother and I've never seen your faces." The girl replys plainly. The two boys look downcast and hurt by her statement.

"That's cause neither of us got past the trails." The black haired boy tells her and scratches the back of his head awkwardly.

"Well, not that this conversation isn't amusing and all but maybe we should all introduce ourselves." The Professor cuts in and smiles.

"Oh! I'll go first, my name is Zuri Ash. I'm fourteen, five foot five inches tall, my favorite type is Fire and I want to see the world!" She finishes by winking and making a peace sign over the left eye. I smile and she looks at me. "You next red."

I feel my face grow hot and look down at Ester who presses herself against me again. "My name is Lily Greenwood, I'm fourteen, five foot three inches, and my favorite type is Grass."

"My name is Ryan Rye, I'm fifteen, six foot two inches, and my favorite type is Water." Ryan immediately says after I finish and I have to say I am thankful he does.

"Why didn't either of you say what your dream is!" Zuri whines, then the auburn haired boy laughs at her.

"Maybe they just don't have any dreams involving pokemon, only each other." He laughs again, Zuri just looks confused for a moment and I feel my face grow really hot. Then a smile spreads across her face as she looks back and forth between us.

"My name is Mason White, I'm five foot nine, my favorite type is Dark and I want to win the Kanto pokemon league." He finishes by punching his fist in the air with a goofy smile and I can't help but laugh. Everyone looks at me confused before joining in the laughter.

"Well aren't you a lively bunch but I would like to hand out your pokemon now." Professor Oak laughs a little when we've all calmed and points to the pokeballs on the table. "Zuri, your brother set this up for you and told me you would want a Charmander."

Zuri picks up the pokeball the Professor points to and smiles broadly at it.

"Would you like to nickname him?" the Professor asks

"It's a boy?" Her smile broadens. "Uh, let's just shorten it to Char. "

"Okay, well the other Charmander is for you, Mason." He turns to Mason. He picks up the pokeball and looks down at it intensely. "Would you like to nickname yours?"

"No, I don't waste my time with things like that." Mason replies, not taking his eyes off the pokeball.

"Well, Lily I picked out a very young jolly Bulbasaur for you." He smiles at me kindly as I pick up the pokeball and release the Bulbasaur. I kneel down and it looks up at me curiously. Ester steps forward and sniffs the little guy. He looks at her and they touch noses.

"Bulba! Bulba!" He calls out in joy before running around in a circle.

"I'm glad you like him Ester, why don't we call him… Venus, because one day you will be a strong Venusaur." I tell him kindly as I squat down and rub his head.

"Bulba, Bulbasaur." He replies and rubs back against my hand.

"Good, good. Now Ryan, the Squirtle, you said you would like. You have already meet." He smiles as Ryan picks up the pokeball and also releases the Squirtle.

The Squirtle immediately leaps into Ryan's arms and he laughs. The scene makes me feel warm inside and I can't help but blush.

"Good, so you all have your pokemon now and everyone's happy. Before I send you all out I have one more proposal for you all." The professor draws our attention. "Why don't you all travel together. I always find the most fulfilling journey is always achieved when you share the experiences and memories with others."


	2. Chapter 2

_Sup Pokemon Trainers! Here is Chapter Two! I would like to make a few things clear._

 _1\. I will be playing off the Manga when it comes to Pokeballs. Meaning, the tops are transparent so the characters can see their Pokemon._

 _2\. Whenever the POV changes, I will bold the Character name at the top._

 _Hope you enjoy!_

 **Zuri**

"Why don't you all travel together. I always find the most fulfilling journey is always achieved when you share the experiences and memories with others." Professor Oak says.

"That would be so fun!" I bounce up and down clapping; "It would be lonely, since I'm all alone here and all. My brother isn't here to travel with me and I don't have any friends, you know."

"What do you say, Ry?" Mason elbows him; "It wouldn't be all that bad traveling with a cute pair of girls."

"At least then it wouldn't be all farts, burps and B.O." Ryan elbows him back and scratches the back of his head.

"Dude! Not cool!" Mason stares at him in shock then laughs.

I turn to Lily. She looks shocked and frightened. I wander over to her without her noticing.

"What's wrong?" I ask. This draws the attention of the boys, who had started wrestling, over to us. Lily snaps her head up to look at me and blushes a deep red.

"Oh! I-it's nothing! It's just that.." She stammers, tears welling up in her eyes. My heart squeezes at how adorable this makes her look and without hesitation I hug her close. I feel her tense up and try to say something.

"It's okay! I'll protect you from the boys! I won't let them lay a single hand on your adorable little head!" I squeeze her close to me.

"It's not the boys that make me hesitant to leave. It's because I've never really left Pallet town." She wiggles out of my hug.

"It's okay. I totally get it." Mason pipes up; "Ask Ryan. I was homesick in the beginning of our first journey too."

"The baby cried during our second night." Ryan smiles.

"DUDE!" Mason punches him in the shoulder getting embarrassed. This makes her giggle.

"And it's not like you won't be able to get ahold of your parents. We can stop at all the Pokemon Centers to let you call home. I do it all the time to get ahold of my brother. I think it gets on his nerves sometimes because I call him early in the morning a lot." I pat her shoulder.

"I'm scared that they will need me, and I'll be too far away to do anything." She tries to wipe away her tears.

"I'll be here to help them." Professor Oak decides to chime in. He walks over to the little girl and places his hands on her shoulders looking into her eyes; "Don't you worry." She nods and hugs the Professor. He leads us out of the Lab and down the long driveway. We all stand in front of the gate looking at the man, who seems to want to say something to us. He stares out across Pallet town. Turning around to look at us again he grins.

"Why don't we start off your new journey with a picture?" He asks.

"That would be great! I can send it to my parents! And to Sam and Kitty! They would be so happy to see that I've made new friends!" I hop up and down, clapping my hands in excitement. Mason sighs.

"This might be a loooong trip."

I stop, turning to stare at him; "What's that suppose to mean?"

"Hm?" He looks over at me with a grin on his face; "Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it."

Professor Oak clears his throat, gathering our attention again. "Gather in close now."

I stand beside Lily, who holds up a peace sign with her right hand and points at herself with a big smile on her face, making her eyes sparkle. Ryan stands behind us all, bringing his hands behind his head. He sort of half smiles, bringing the left side of his mouth up slightly. Mason puts his right hand on his hip, holding up a peace sign, like Lily, up by his left eye. He turns to look at me, winking at me with a big grin plastered on his face before turning back to the Professor.

"Oh I have an idea! Why don't we have our Eeveelutions in the picture with us!" I state as I notice their Eeveelutions sitting off to the side.

"You have a Eeveelution?" Lily looks at me.

"Well, I have an Eevee. I've been searching far and wide for a Firestone." I reply as I let my Eevee out of his Pokeball. He hops around happy to be out. They all shrug, calling their Pokemon over. They all get back into position. Leafeon and Vaporeon sit in front of us in the middle. Umbreon stands a little behind Vaporeon, standing in front of Mason. I hold my left arm out so it's behind Lily. I lift my right leg and lean to the left and little. I wink as my Eevee leaps out from behind Leafeon just as Professor Oak snaps the picture. The end result makes him chuckle.

"Well, this is one of my favorite photos." I shows us the picture. We all laugh at it. We agree that it's prefect and head off.

On the outskirts of Pallet, Lily stops. Turning back to look at her hometown. We all stop to look at her. Ryan walks over to stand beside her. She looks up at him before turning back to the little town and saying;

"Good-bye for now. But I promise I will be back."

I grin while adding: "I'll be back too!"

Lily turns to look at me with a surprised look on her face but then she smiles.

"I'm sure Mason will want to come back to show off his skills to all the girls around town." Ryan grins.

"Is it pick on Mason day, or something!" Mason crosses his arms; "But he isn't wrong." It looks like he is done talking but then he adds; "About the coming back part at least. And wherever I go, Ryan tags along. So he'll be coming back with me."

This makes Lily laugh. Her and Ryan come to join us on the path.

"Ready to start our journey?" Lily asks. We all nod and turn to head off to the first city on our journey to become the very best.

We are walking down Route 1, almost to Viridian City when we spot something up in the trees. As we grow closer I start to think it's just a Pidgey or a Pigeotto. We stop a few feet away from the sleeping Bird Pokemon. My eyes go wide as we come to the realization that it isn't either of those.

"Is… that a Pidgeot?" Ryan asks.

"Yeah. There is a Pidgeot that lives on this route. I've seen it around on my journeys back and forth. It sleeps a lot in the trees. My parents told me it was abandoned years ago. They tried to catch it but they could never get close enough." Lily explains.

"Think we could?" Mason says to no one in particular. We all decided to move closer to the sleeping Pidgeot. But before we could get close enough to throw a Pokeball at it, it's head snaps up and it glares at us all. Our eyes meet and we stare each other down for what feels like ages before it flies off.

"I'm going to catch it." I say out loud.

"What?" They all look at me.

"You heard me. Now let's go find that Pidgeot!" I race off in the direction that it flew off. I hear them yelling after me but I don't stop. Who would abandon such a beautiful Pokemon? Who would leave it to just die alone in the wild? I would never do such a thing! And if I find the person who did, I'm going to teach them a lesson! I hop over a fallen log and spot the Bird Pokemon cleaning its feathers a few feet ahead of me. It stops and looks at me. I stare into it's eyes. I can see the loneliness, the hurt and the fear. I go to speak but it flies away as the others finally catch up to me.

"You really shouldn't run off on your own out here, Zuri." Lily huffs.

"I need to catch that Pokemon!" I turn, almost snapping at her.

"Why? It's nothing special." Mason groans as he tries to catch his breath.

"You wouldn't understand why!" I turn to look for it in the sky but can't see it; "If you want to leave me behind, go ahead. But I'm staying here until that Pokemon is mine." No one says anything for a long time until finally, Mason speaks up.

"We aren't going to leave you behind." He walks up beside me; "So which direction did that Pokemon fly off in?"

We split off into teams, Mason and I are one team, Ryan and Lily the other. Seeing as the boys have some experience already as Trainers. As we walk down the dirt road, I use my senses to try and find the Pidgeot. But I mostly only sense Pidgey, Rattata, Spearow and Caterpie. I sigh heavily. This makes Mason look at me.

"Giving up already?"

"What?" I look at him; "No!"

He clicks his tongue; "Sure seems like it."

I stop dead in my tracks, staring at the boy in disbelief. How could he say such a thing! I never give up! But.. it seems like I won't find that Pidgeot. Maybe I was thinking about giving up. I stare down at my shoes. Why did I think I could catch a Pidgeot? A final evolution.

"Hey! I think I see it!" Mason grabs my arm and pulls me off the road and into the trees. He points to a big tree ahead of us. Sitting on a branch is the Pidgeot.

"Well, are you going to try and catch it? It's just sitting there." He shoves me forward.

"What?" I turn to look at him.

"I thought you said you were going to catch it. That you NEEDED to catch it."

"Oh." I look back at the Pidgeot; "I want to talk to it first."

"Then go ahead." He gestures me to move. I nod and start walking forward. The Pokemon turns to look down at me. I stop and stare at it. I quiver with anticipation. I count to ten then begin.

"I.. I know the pain you are feeling. I want to make it better. I want you to be my Pokemon. No. My Partner!" The Pidgeot stares at me. It doesn't move, doesn't fly away, just sits there. It shakes it head and turns away from me. My mouth drops open as my shoulders sag in defeat. I hear Mason stroll up behind me.

"Hey, don't look so down. I'm sure it'll change it's mind." He pats my shoulder; "Let's go find the other two. It's getting late. We'll have to camp out tonight."

We find the other two in an open field already setting up the camping gear. Lily cooks us a delicious meal. As we sit around the campfire, the boys talk about their journey around Unova. I zone in and out of their stories. Which isn't really like me. But I can't focus on anything but the Pidgeot. The fear I saw was heartbreaking. What did its previous trainer do to it? Why would they just leave it here? I wonder if it was mistreated, and that's why it keeps fleeing from me. Or anyone, really. Someone taps my shoulder, bringing me back from my thoughts.

"You okay?" Lily asks.

"Just lost in my thoughts is all." I shrug.

"That Pidgeot has really got you down." Mason sighs; "You've been super quiet. I know we haven't known each other for long, but this isn't really like you."

"What's that suppose to mean?!" I glare at him.

"Heh, that's better." He snickers.

"Leave her alone." Ryan looks at his friend. Mason looks at the other boy but doesn't anything else. We all sit in silence before Ryan suggests we go to bed so we can continue onto Viridian in the morning. We crawl into our sleeping bags before saying goodnight. I stare up at the stars, wanting to sleep but not being able to. I must have dozed off into a light sleep because I find myself blinking my eyes open again. I sit up, looking around for a reason that could have woken me up. I find Lily curled up with her Leafeon, Ryan is facing in the other direction and Mason has somehow found his way out of his sleeping bag. I turn towards the trees. At first I don't see it but soon the outline of Bird Pokemon forms on the branch of one of the trees. It's the Pidgeot. I slowly slip out of my sleeping bag, stuffing my feet into my shoes. I walk over to the tree expecting it to fly away. But it stays put.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Pidge~" It replies. I stare up at it before taking a seat by the base of the tree. I stare back at the others from here. Just barely making out the campsite. Pidgeot moves around on the branch, making the branch shake. I look up at it. It has moved closer to the trunk of the tree, looking down at me. I smile up at it.

"You must be lonely out here with no other Pidgeot around."

"~Geot"

"I know that feeling." I breath out with a laugh. I look out across the field. Tears sting my eyes.

"I felt like my brother abandoned me when he moved to Sinnoh. He was one of the only people who supported my dreams about becoming a Trainer. He was my only friend." I pull my knees to my chest, trying to stop myself from crying. I hear the Pidgeot flap its wings. It must be flying away. But I notice a shadow loom over me. I look up to spot the Bird Pokemon standing in front of me. I tentatively steps forward before trying to nuzzle it's head into my knees. This makes me smile. I slowly reach up to stroke it's head. It chirps happily.

"Do you, maybe, want to come with me?" I ask. It looks up at me, tilting it's head to the side. I pull the Pokeball I've been carrying around out of my pocket. Before I can do anything else, Pidgeot presses the button with it's beak. There's a bright flash as PIdgeot turns red and gets sucked into the Pokeball. The Pokeball shakes in my hand three times before the button turns white again. I stare down at my new Pokemon. Pidgeot stares up at me. I can see a flash of happiness in it's eyes. I kiss the Pokeball and carry it with me back to my sleeping bag. I kick off my shoes and crawl back into the warmth. I place the Pokeball on my pillow beside me so I can look at Pidgeot. I smile as I slowly drift off to sleep. I can wait to show them my new friend!


End file.
